How Media Affects Our Body Image

Every day we are bombarded with images of slim, beautiful people who are in great shape, and this is supposed to be the standard of beauty that we should strive for. Come on. How many people do you actually know who really look like that? The average person is a bit overweight, has love handles, and does not have six-pack abs. In fact, this probably describes most of us. So, how does it affect our self-esteem and body image when we see what we are supposed to look like, at least according to television, newspapers and magazines?

Don't Believe Everything You See On TV

Look at all of the television shows these days. You rarely see an overweight or unattractive person, and it's pretty hard to find someone less than perfect on the so-called reality television shows. In fact, most of the women on these programs wear a tiny size 3, which as far as the general public goes, is probably borderline anorexic. But, when we see these people, we take a look at ourselves, and decide that we do not fit the criteria for beautiful, and start taking action.

Many people go on strict diets and exercise programs (often unnecessarily), or even take drastic action such as plastic surgery, just so they can be as beautiful as their favorite celebrities and television personalities. The best advice? Stop watching TV, or at least stop paying such close attention to many of the things you see. Remember, the people you see on television (even in reality programs) do not represent the general population, and if you do not have this body type, no matter what you do, you are never going to be a size 3.

Be Comfortable with Yourself

You can lose all kinds of weight, have plastic surgery and take as many steps as possible to create your idea of beauty. But, if you don't feel beautiful on the inside, nothing you do to the outside is going to make you happy. You are never going to be satisfied with your appearance until you can learn how to accept who you are, as well as your limitations. Once you have learned how to be comfortable with yourself, then you can start seriously thinking about what changes you really need to make to your appearance, if any.

When it comes to body image, don't go by the celebrities and others that you see on television and in magazines. Sure they are beautiful, but so are you. You just may not be able to see it, because you are being blinded by the images the media is constantly throwing at us.

totally agree not only are they doing this in the magazine articles their also doing it to music too and paying more attention to the artists looks and ignoring the music and everywhere music videos are becoming more explicit and the movies everyone is always doing drugs and alcohol its like the media just wants to corrupt society

I think the media just want profit and they will dive into whatever if there is profit to be made. Do not accept everything from the media. We need to have our own filtering system. Easier said than done, I know. We are constantly bombarded. Discipline may be our shield.